Olympic gold medal sprinter Phil Hindes announces retirement at 29

Double Olympic gold medallist Phil Hindes has announced his retirement from the Great Britain Cycling Team at 29-years-old.  

Hindes has been a long-standing part of the sprinting outfit for Team GB, winning gold at the London 2021 games and again in Rio 2016 in the team sprint. 

After 11 years with the British Olympic team, Hindes has called time on his racing to start a new career. 

The German-born Brit said: “Being a member of the GBCT for so long has been incredible, and I have really lived and loved my career. My career highlights have to be my Olympic gold medals from London 2012 and Rio 2016, but also I’ve met some of my best friends on the team, and in cycling in general, so this has been the best bit of my cycling career.

“I will now be putting my dedication and drive into a new chapter of my life, starting a new career, and seeing where it takes me.

“I’d like to thank British Cycling for their support over the years and all the people that helped me on my journey, I owe a lot to them, and I can't thank them enough. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. I think there’s plenty more to come from the men’s sprint team, and I’ll be cheering them on all the way to Paris 2024.”

After starting his cycling career representing Germany in the junior ranks, Hindes switched to the GB team in 2010, going on to Olympic success just two years later. 

In London, aged just 19, Hindes won gold with Jason Kenny and Sir Chris Hoy in the team sprint, defending the title with Kenny and Callum Skinner in Rio four years later.  

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British Cycling performance director Stephen Park said: “A big congratulations to Phil on a fantastic cycling career. As well as his two Olympic gold medals, Phil can take pride in the fact he was indisputably the fastest man one team sprint rider in the world for a number of years. To sustain this level of power, speed and fitness for so long is remarkable and he can count himself as one of the GBCT’s most successful sprinters.

“In addition to his achievements on the bike, what stands out for me about Phil is the professionalism and support he showed his team-mates in Tokyo, where he was a reserve rider. Additionally, his mature attitude towards retirement and the drive he has shown to embark on a new career path is commendable and behalf of everyone on the team I wish him the best of luck.”